Going Home
by swimgirl1
Summary: Gabriella left for college after high school, now two years later she finally comes home...with a secret...
1. nervousness and guilt

Hey every one! This is my first high school musical fic...so be gentle!! I hope you all enjoy this as much as I am enjoying writing it.

SUMMARY:Gabriella left for school when high school was over...two years later she finally comes home. With a secret...

Gabriella Montez sighed as she put some toys in a box.

"Nervous?" A voice came from the doorway.

Gabriella looked up and moved over to sit in the window seat. "A little. So much has changed, mom." She picked at a loose piece of paint on the window sill.

Ms. Montez went over to Gabriella and sat next to her. "Gabi, everything will be fine."

"How do you know? How do you know that they won't hate me?" Gabriella whispered, "You know I never told any of them about Aaron. Not even Troy. What if they don't understand?"

"Then that's their problem. You have been a great mother to Aaron, be proud of that." Ms. Montez tried to reassure her daughter.

"I am proud of that. That little boy is my whole life. I just want them to understand and not hate me, especially Troy." Tears formed in her eyes when she said his name a second time. Troy Bolton, her first and only love. They were perfect. Voted cutest couple their senior year. When college came around they parted ways but swore that they would make it work. But the distance was just too much for both of them.

Gabriella couldn't focus on school and Troy's basketball struggled. They had decided, mutually, that they should take a break til summer and when they both came home they would decide where they stood with each other. But Gabriella never came home. She just couldn't face him. Now two years later here she was, mother to two year old Aaron and getting ready to move back to Albuquerque with her mother. What would she tell them? Tell Troy?

"Gabi, you need to stop worrying. Everything will be okay." Ms. Montez looked at her watch, "Come on, we need to pick up Aaron and hit the road."

Gabriella picked up the box of Aaron's toys and looked back at the empty room. She wished that she could just hide in the corner. She just wasn't ready to face any of them.


	2. Encounter

Thanks to everyone that reviewed. I'm glad that you all like it so far.

To clear up some confusion, this was my fault I didn't specify enough that Troy and Gabriella broke up in October. Aaron was born that following July. Two years later Gabriella comes home with Aaron. More will be explained in later chapters.

"I can't believe he slept the whole way here!" Mrs. Montez (Vicky) exclaimed as they pulled into the driveway.

"He's not gonna sleep tonight." Gabriella said distantly as she looked out the window. She was home, but it just wasn't the same, it would never be the same. Finally, she got out of the car, unbuckled Aaron and took him I inside.

An hour later, Aaron had woken up and was bouncing off the walls and showing no signs of tiredness.

"I told you he wouldn't sleep!" Gabriella said, laughing at the little boy running up and down the hall.

"Mama! Mama!" Aaron screamed and he came running into his room and plopping himself on Gabriella's lap, "Where Buzz?"

"Umm, I think mama left him in the car." Aaron looked up at her with sad eyes.

"You get him, mama?" He reached up and hugged her.

"Yeah, I'll go get him. You stay with grandma." He bounced off Gabriella's lap and into Vicky's lap.

Gabriella walked downstairs and out the front door. She opened the car door and reached in to grab the stuffed Buzz Lightyear doll.

"Gabriella?" She quickly dropped the doll and looked up. "Oh my gosh! When did you get home?" Kelsi asked, with Jason next to her.

"Um, just today." Gabriella was surprised that anyone would be out this late. She really didn't think that she would have to deal with anyone yet. What were they doing out now anyways?

"How have you been?" Jason asked.

"Okay." She felt horrible about not staying in touch with everyone and not telling them about Aaron. She began to fidget and get scared that Aaron might figure out how long it's taken her to get the doll. "Look, I gotta go help my mom get my stuff settled in." She quickly left Jason and Kelsi standing there a little speechless.

"Was it just me or was she hiding something?" Kelsi looked at Jason, confused, "It just didn't seem like her."

"Well," Jason started, "She left for school, her and Troy break up, and she never came home, til now. Yeah there was something wrong with her." Kelsi nodded at her boyfriend as they continued walking.

Later that night, when Gabriella FINALLY got Aaron to go to sleep, she found herself not able to fall asleep. Kelsi and Jason had seen her. It was only a matter of time before they all knew that she was back. Then she would have to explain everything.

After two years, she still knew all of them too well. Kelsi would have to tell Taylor, who would have to tell Chad, who would have to tell Troy, who would have already heard it from Jason. Then it would get to Zeke who would, of course, have to tell Sharpay, who would tell Ryan. Then in turn, they would all show up at her door step wanting answers. It was a vicious circle, but a predictable one nonetheless.

As predicted by Gabriella, the circle had begun ...


	3. Truth and tears

I am terribly sorry for the lack of updating but with school, two jobs, and a boyfriends...life is HECTIC!!!! But anyways, thank you to all who have reviewed! I'm glad that you like it so far. I'm trying my very best to make the chapters longer, and guess what?? This one is finally longer! So here we go...

"She's back?" Troy asked shocked at what he was being told.

"Yeah it was really weird." Jason said, "She wasn't herself. There was something different about her, and she was hiding something."

"I don't get it," Troy started, "why didn't she ever come home like we said we would do. She didn't even call. Now two years later, she just shows up out of nowhere? Where has she been?"

Troy had never fully recovered from their break up. He thought that breaking up was what Gabriella wanted. Unknown to him, she thought that it was what he wanted. He tried to move on. He even dated other girls. It just didn't work out for him. He tried to call Gabriella, her phone was disconnected. He tried to go see her, she moved out of the dorm and no one knew where she went. Even her mom wouldn't tell him anything. So he gave up. If it was this hard to find her, then she obviously didn't want to be found, by anyone.

There were so many unanswered questions. Now that she was finally home, he wanted those answers. He needed them. He needed closure. He needed to know if they were really over. Troy stood up and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Chad asked.

"To get some answers." Troy kept walking.

"Troy, wait!" Jason yelled. Troy stopped.

"What?"

"We all want answers. We'll come with you." Jason said. The rest of the gang stood up.

"No. I need to do this by myself." With that he was gone.

GABRIELLA'S HOUSE

Gabriella had just gotten Aaron down for his nap when she heard the doorbell. She quietly closed the door to his room and went downstairs and opened the front door. She stood there frozen.

"Hi." Troy simply said.

"Ah, hi." She stammered. To be honest she wasn't really surprised to see him. But it was still hard to believe that he was actually standing in front of her. She actually thought that everyone would be with him.

"Can I come in, and talk?" Troy asked.

Gabriella looked up to the stairs, 'he's asleep.' She thought. "Um, sure." She moved out of the way and let him in. Gabriella stood there feeling very uncomfortable and she could tell that he was feeling the same way.

"When did you get back?" Troy asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yesterday."

'Why is it so hard for me to just get to the point? She's hiding something. Why does she keep looking upstairs?' He thought to himself. After standing there for another five minutes, Troy had had enough and just decided to throw it out there. "Gab, why didn't you come home like we planned?"

She didn't answer, just hung her head in shame and guilt. He had no idea how much she had wanted to. She just couldn't take seeing him after what happened. A tear fell from her eye.

He moved closer to her and lifter her chin, "Talk to me."

Gabriella brushed his hand away, "Please, Troy, I don't want to talk." She choked back a sob. He heart was screaming at her to just take him upstairs and tell him the truth, but her head overpowered her heart by telling her to keep her mouth shut, the he wouldn't understand.

"Gabriella, please just tell me. I need to know." Troy pleaded with her.

"You wouldn't understand." She said.

"Understand what?" He tried again, but she said nothing, "Gabi, please."

She didn't know why this was so hard for her. Why couldn't she just tell him? They used to be so close, best friends, they could tell each other everything and now there was a wall. They both felt it. Then something in her just started screaming and she couldn't hold back her emotions anymore.

"Tell you why I COULDN'T come home? Why I COULDN'T face you?" Gabriella cried at him. Pent up anger and hurt that she's been holing in for two years just came out like a freight train.

"Couldn't?" He asked, confused. He hated seeing her cry like that. Stressed to tears and guilt panging away at her.

Keeping this secret was killing her, emotionally draining her and she couldn't take it anymore. "I can't do this anymore, Troy."

"Do what anymore?" Troy asked. "Gab, please."

She looked him straight in the eyes with tear stained cheeks, "Lie to you."

"What do you mean, 'lie to me'?"

"Follow me." She whispered and headed to the stairs.

"Gabriella?" She just kept walking, and he followed. They came to a stop at Aaron's door.

'It's now or never.' She thought and took a deep breath. "In that room, is the reason why I couldn't come home." She opened the door to reveal the little boy sound asleep cuddled up with his Buzz Lightyear doll.

Troy was in shock, 'Gabriella has a kid?' He thought to himself, only because he could not seem to find his voice. He turned to look at her, tears streaming down her face.

"His name is Aaron, and he's my son."

Troy stood mesmerized at the little boy. He was the spitting image of Gabriella. Finally, after two years of wondering and worrying about her, he knew. But he felt angry towards her. Angry at her for not coming home like they planned. Angry at her for thinking that he wouldn't understand. And most of all angry at her for lying to him for two years. He turned back to her again.

"Are you happy now?" She whispered ad she closed Aaron's door and headed back downstairs.

Troy still wasn't satisfied. He needed to know more, there had to be more to the story. Where is Aaron's father. Then it hit him, 'Am I his father?' He thought.

Once downstairs, Gabriella looked at Troy, who was still in shock from what he had just seen.

"I suppose you want to know more." She said

"Yeah." Was all he could make himself say. She ushered him into the living room and they sat on the couch. They were quiet for a while, Troy finally spoke up. "Is he mine?"

Ohhhh cliffy...hope you all enjoyed this one. I worked really hard to make this one longer! I've got Ch. 4 started so hopefully it will be up soon!


	4. confessions and first meetings

1I'm so very sorry for the lack of attention that I have given to this story. But here is another chapter and hopefully I will be better at updating this time around...

"Is he mine?" Troy asked her. Right before they broke up, they had gone all the way, so to say. Gabriella had come home for a weekend, as had Troy and they got a little carried away. They both came home again the next weekend and decided that it was just too hard to be away from each other all the time so they broke it off.

She hung her head in shame, "No." She wished so badly that she could tell him yes. She wanted nothing more than to tell Troy that Aaron was his.

"Oh." Was all he could say. He had expected her to say yes. Had she cheated on him, then come home only to break up with him? "So, what happened?"

Gabriella huffed, "You mean did I cheat on you?"

Troy silently nodded, almost ashamed of even thinking of it.

"No Troy, I did not cheat on you." She was annoyed now, but at the same time she understood how he could be feeling.

"I don't get it. How did _he_ come to be?" Troy didn't mean for that to come out the way that it did.

"His name is Aaron. It happened at a party, AFTER we broke up." Gabriella snapped at him, angry for referring to her son so rudely.

Troy listened intently. He knew that she was getting frustrated with the situation and with him. He nodded for her to continue.

"The weekend in October, the weekend that we broke up, I went back to school upset and my roommate decided to take it upon herself to make me feel better and she took me to a party."

Troy cut her off, "and you screwed some guy?" He asked jumping to the only possible conclusion he could think of.

She just looked at him with a glare, "Would you just let me finish?"

"Sorry."

"This guy, Jett, he was in one of my classes, he saw me sitting by myself and brought me a drink." She took a deep breath and brushed away a tear. "We talked for an hour or so and the next thing I knew I woke up in a bedroom alone and my clothes were across the room." She cried.

Troy watched her pour her heart out. How could he be so heartless. He got up and went to set beside her.

"Gab, I'm sorry. I didn't meant o sound so harsh. I'm just really surprised and shocked." He apologized.

She looked up at him with tear filled eyes, "I know you are, Troy. This is hard for me too."

He sighed. This had not gone well at all. "Can we try this again?"

"This?"

"You telling me about Aaron, without me being an ass?" Troy laughed. And for the first time in two years, he saw her smile.

"I never wanted to hurt you by not coming home or telling you about Aaron." She looked down at her hands. "Even though we were broken up, I still felt like I had betrayed you, I felt like I couldn't face you."

"That I would hate you." Troy finished for her.

Yeah. I didn't want anything to do with Jett. It was a one night thing, that I'm still very confused about. Anyways, he took off when I told him I was pregnant." Gabriella told him. She felt much better, the truth was out and the world did not end.

"Gabs?" Troy asked.

"Yeah." She whispered.

"Why did we really break up?" After hearing her story, he was even more confused on that subject.

She looked up at him. Truthfully, she didn't know. "I don't know. I thought it was what you wanted." She looked into his eyes.

"I thought it was what you wanted." Troy said.

"Wow." Gabriella sighed, "I thought we were better with communication than that." They both let out a laugh.

"I wouldn't have hated you. I don't hate you." Troy told her.

"Do you mean that?" Gabriella asked as to reassure herself.

"I would have been as shocked as I am now, but I could never hate you." Troy answered sincerely.

Gabriella did not know what to say. That was mainly the only reason that she never came home. She didn't think that he would be so understanding.

"Hey," troy pulled her from her thoughts. She looked at him and smiled, "You look like a huge weight has just been lifted off your shoulders."

"It has. I have spent the last two years hiding because I was too afraid of you hating me. I felt like I had betrayed you. How could I just show up with a baby? That was not yours."

"I do wish that you had come home to me. I would have helped you out. It was really shitty of that Jett guy to abandon you and Aaron like that. I wish I had know everything that you were going through."

"My mom helped me out a lot. It was rough, but Aaron is a good kid. I just couldn't handle it anymore. Mom talked me into coming home." Gabriella told him, "and I have to say it is a huge relief to be back!"

Troy just watched her. He didn't think that he would have the chance to talk to her again.

"It's good to see you agin. I really missed you Gabs." Troy smiled

"I missed you too troy." He reached over to tough her hand.

"Mama?" A tired voice came from the stairs. Gabriella got up and went up the stairs and picked up Aaron. She took him over to the couch where Troy was sitting.

"Aaron, this is Mama's friend, Troy." Aaron shyly looked at Troy and rubbed his eyes.

"Hi." Aaron said quietly.

"Hi there. Do you like basketball?" Troy said referring to Aaron's pajamas covered in basketballs.

The little boy's eyes widened with excitement. "Yeah! It's my favorite!"

Gabriella and Troy laughed at how quickly Aaron went from shy to ecstatic.

"Mine too." Troy told him like it was a secret that only the two of them knew.

"Really?" Troy nodded. "Will you play with me sometime?"

"Anytime." Troy answered.

Aaron looked up at Gabriella, "Mama? Can Troy and me play basketball?"

She smiled, "Sure." She looked at her watch, they had been talking for nearly three hours and it was 9pm. Then she heard Aaron's little tummy grumble.

"Mama, my tummy is hungy." Aaron told her.

"How about we order pizza?" Troy suggested. Gabriella and Aaron agreed.

Two hours later Gabriella tucked Aaron in and went back downstairs to say goodnight to Troy. He looked up when he saw her coming down the stairs. "He asleep?"

"Yeah, conked right out." Gabriella smiled, "Thanks for tonight."

"Anytime. He really is a great kid. You've done a great job with him."

"Thanks. So we'll see you tomorrow to go to the park?" She asked. During pizza, Aaron asked if Troy would come back tomorrow and come to the park with them so they could play basketball.

"Yeah. I still can't believe how excited he got." Troy was truly amazed by Aaron. He looked exactly like Gabriella, he was smart like she was, and he loved basketball.

"He hasn't had many male figures in his life so this is pretty big for him." They walked to the door, "Thanks again."

"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow." Troy quickly kissed her on the cheek.

"Goodnight." She smiled at him as he walked to his car. Gabriella went to bed and awaited for tomorrow.


	5. the park

So it's been a while since I've touched this story…and I'm gonna try and finish it. I've decided to switch the POV and they alternate between Troy and Gabriella. Enjoy!

Troy POV

This is just insane! Of all the reasons that ran through my head, this was certainly not one of them. I never would have imagined that Gabriella had a kid. Honestly I don't know how I feel about the fact that Aaron wasn't mine. When I saw him all I could think was wow that's my son. When Gab said he wasn't, my emotions were all mixed. Aaron is an amazing kid. With a mom like Gab how could he not be?

Hearing what she has gone through the last two years was hard. How could anyone just drug someone like that and walk away. This Jett guy doesn't even have a clue about Aaron. He doesn't deserve to know him anyway. Aaron definitely got his smarts from Gabriella. He speaks so clear for a two year old. I honestly couldn't wait to take them to the park for the day. I wonder how everyone is going to react to this. None of us expected it.

After spending most of the night with Gabriella and Aaron, I made my way home. Chad, Jason, and I decided that we didn't want to live in the dorms so we rented an apartment not far from the University of Albuquerque. I walked into the apartment and was met with my friends surrounding me at the door.

"How did it go?"

"What happened?"

"Is she ok?"

I raised my hands to silence them, "Stop! It went fine. She's, well she's ok, I guess."

"You guess? What do you mean you guess?" Taylor asked, concerned.

I took a deep breath and walked passed them to the couch and sat down, "Look I can't really get into in right now. She will tell you guys what's been going on when she's ready."

"So, something has been going on? I knew she seemed different, scared almost." Kelsi said. They were just gonna keep hounding me but I can't just out Gabriella like that. She will tell them about Aaron when she is ready to tell them.

"I'm going to take a shower. You all might as well give this a rest tonight. I'm not telling you anything. That's up to her." I got up and headed towards my room and got my shower stuff. I grabbed my phone and went into the bathroom. I dialed Gabriella's number and locked the door. I could still hear everyone whispering about what could have possibly happened with Gabriella.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, it's Troy. Sorry it's late. And I just left your house." I apologized. I heard her giggle a little before she responded.

"It's fine. I was up anyway. So what's up?"

"Well, I walked into my apartment tonight and was ambushed by everyone wanting to know what happened with you." I heard her take a breath, "I didn't tell them anything. That's up to you when you want to tell them."

"I suppose I can't live here and hide him forever. I just don't want them to think badly of me." She got quiet and her voice shook. How could she think that? Sure, they don't know that Gabriella has Aaron but they will understand.

"Gab, they won't think badly of you. They'll understand, and they'll love Aaron." I sighed when she didn't respond. "Why don't I see if they want to come to the park tomorrow?" She was quiet. I assume she was contemplating my question.

"Um, yeah, I guess. Might as well get this over with." Her voice was almost too quiet for me to hear. She wasn't sure about it but she's strong and she can handle it.

"Ok I'll let them know. They really want to see you. They've missed you."

"I've missed them too."

"I'm going to let you go. I need to take a shower. I'll pick you and Aaron up tomorrow around 11:30? Sound good?

"Yeah. We will see you then."

"Night Gab."

"Good night Troy." I hung up and went back out to the living room. Everyone had made themselves comfortable in front of the TV.

"Hey guys. Um I just talked to Gabriella and we wanted to know if you wanted to come to the park with us tomorrow." They all eagerly said yes and resumed throwing theories around about Gabriella. I quickly exited the room and took my shower and went to bed.

I got up the next morning, and went down to the coffee shop and headed for Gabriella's house. She opened the door with a smile and invited me in.

"What did you bring?" she motioned to the coffee and bag in my hands.

"Oh, coffee for you and me. And I got a donut for Aaron." She led me into the kitchen where Aaron sat at the table with glass of juice and a basketball. His head swung around when he heard us come in.

"Troy! I'm so excited to go play at da park today!" How can one little boy be so full of energy? I laughed and messed his dark hair.

"Aaron, sit down. Troy brought you some breakfast." He did as he was told and I handed him the donut. He happily gobbled it down. Gabriella and I laughed. She helped him brush his teeth and we left for the park.

"Troy, are we gonna play ball? Cuz I really wanna play ball! Mama said we was gonna play. I got my ball and everything!" Aaron babbled on about playing ball the entire way to the park. He was so hyped up that I couldn't even answer him. Gabriella closed her smiled, closed her eyes, and just smiled at her son.

As soon as we reached the park Gabriella hesitated in the car. "Aaron, why don't you go ahead and hit the jungle gym? Stay where your mom and I can see you, ok?" I looked to Gab and she nodded. He took off and we could see him about 15 feet away.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Are they here yet? I'm just a little nervous about this." She never took her eyes away from where Aaron was playing.

"I don't think so. It's ok. Calm down. Let's just go play with Aaron for a while." I rubbed the back of her neck, it seemed to sooth her a little. She finally turned to me and nodded. We got out of the car and headed over to the bench in front of the jungle gym.

"Hey Troy." We heard from behind us. We turned to see our friends coming up to us. Gabriella took a deep, shaky breath and stood up with me. Taylor went right up to Gabriella and hugged her.

"Oh my gosh Gab! I've missed you so much!" Kelsi and Sharpay joined in on the hug and the four girls started crying.

"Where have you been? What's been going on with you?" Sharpay asked as they all pulled apart. I glanced back over to the jungle gym to make sure Aaron was still in sight. He waved to me and went back to playing in the sand.

"Yeah Gab. It's like you disappeared off the face of the earth. We've missed you." Chad said, giving her a hug. I looked into her eyes and saw that she was a little overwhelmed with all the attention.

"Alright, let's go sit and talk. Give her some room." I took Gabriella's hand, she looked into my eyes and gave me a silent thank you. Everyone followed us to the bench. Gabriella quickly looked over to Aaron; he was smashing all the little sand mounds that he created. She remained quiet. Not sure where she should start, how she should start.

"Gabriella came back home and transferred to the University of Albuquerque." I tried to get the story moving but it was like she just couldn't make herself say the words. "Some, um stuff, happened and her mom suggested that she move back."

"Stuff? What happened Gab?" Kelsi asked.

Gabriella POV

How do I go about this? Stuff is an understatement. I have a 2 year old for crying out loud! Like a band aid Gabriella just rip it off. I was about to respond when Aaron yelled from the sand box.

"Mama!! Look what I builded!" He was standing next to a big pile of sand that he'd pushed together. I smiled and stood up to go to him. I could feel everyone's eyes on my back.

"Mama?" I heard Ryan ask, probably to Troy.

I walked up to Aaron, he was so excited about a pile of sand. He has such a crazy imagination. "Wow sweetie. That is the coolest thing I think I have ever seen!" He giggled and hugged my leg.

"You silly Mama. It's just a pile of sand!" He tugged on my hand, "Come on Mama, I wanna play ball now."

"Ok, in a few minutes. There are some people I want you to meet." I helped him brush off the sand from his pant, he grabbed his little basketball, grabbed onto my hand, and turned to the eight pairs of eyes on me and Aaron. I took one more deep breath, just like a band aid, I reminded myself.

"This is my son, Aaron." I simply said to all the shocked faces. Obviously this is not what they expected. I looked down at Aaron, who has kind of hid himself behind my leg. Normally he's not so shy.

"Hey dude! I'm Jason. That's a really cool ball you have there." Jason broke the silence, and Aaron's eyes widened and he stepped out from behind me.

"You like to play too?" Aaron asked, in awe. Everyone chuckled and waited for Jason to answer.

"Yeah I do. So does Chad over there." He pointed to Chad, who of course, had a ball in his hands as well. How had I not noticed that before? Aaron was on cloud nine. There wasn't usually anyone, besides me to play ball with him.

"Cool! U wanna play wit me an Troy?" He looked up at Troy, "Is that ok Troy?"

"You bet, bud."the boys, even Ryan joined in the game. I sat on the bench with the girls and told them my story.

"Wow. That is awful. How can someone do that? So Jett has no idea about Aaron?" Taylor asked.

I shook my head. "Nope. I don't even know where he is. I haven't seen him since that night. Aaron and I have don't just fine without him." I didn't bother to hide my anger about Jett, he was an asshole. I couldn't care less if I ever saw him again. "My only fear is the day that Aaron asks me where his dad is. He's the only one that is going to get hurt in this mess, and it breaks my heart."

"You're so strong, Gab. He's a good kid." Kelsi told me.

"We're here if you need anything, you know that, right?" Sharpay offered. It was sweet. Sharpay and I had put everything behind us the summer after senior year. We were actually really close for a while. Till I "disappeared". It was comforting to know that I still had my friends and they were cool with Aaron.

"Thanks. I really missed you guys. I'm sorry that I kept this from you for so long. I just didn't know what else to do." I hung my head as I felt the familiar wetness in my eyes. I was so sick of crying and feeling alone. I'm starting to get the feeling that I'm not alone anymore, and I don't need to cry anymore.

Sitting there with my girls, watching my son play basketball with my friends, I felt happy again. I haven't felt this wonderful since the day Aaron was born. Things were definitely turning around now.


End file.
